A Poem From Diane Lewis

Diane Lewis is the 2010 Robert E. Beckmann Emerging Artist Fellow for the Arts Council of Indianapolis. She is a poet, living in Indianapolis with her two dogs, Buddy and Ezra. The poem she selected is a reflection on the children orphaned by the recent Haitian earthquake and aftershocks.

Wishing For A Rainy Day
(Reflections on the Haitian Orphans)

looking out
the darkness reflects
a nation of orphaned children
wanderlings
a city of waifs
a homeless brood that walks
for miles on barefeet or
tiny blistered toes in sandals
and flip-flops
traveling across jagged concrete, glass and asphalt highways
nomadic refugees moving
through jungles of rubbish
like hunted animals or
the prey for jackals
staggering up and down bloody boulevards
climbing over dead relatives
huddling together in broken doorways
or skewed openings in crumbled buildings
with wild eyes
and uninhabited stares
haunting our waking dreams
wishing for rainy days

You can see a number of Indiana poets in action at the Artsgarden (above the intersection of Illinois and Washington Streets, Indianapolis) throughout April during National Poetry Month. Poetry readings will be performed each Monday at 12:15 p.m. For a schedule of events, click here.